A Mate's Submission: (Hot Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 4) by P. Jameson Page A

political angle too while she wasn’t looking. Not that it would matter. The pack didn’t run on politics. It ran on power. And she was powerful. Even more so backed by Lexar’s love. Problem was, so was Raden. Powerful, and now he wasn’t only fighting for control of the pack but also for his mate.
    “Raden,” she barked. “A word with you?”
    One of her wolves looked at her cross, and she snarled in his direction. She couldn’t afford to give an inch tonight.
    “Sure, alpha. Catch you boys later, yeah?”
    They muttered in agreement, one even slapping the contender a high five.
    Bastards.
    When they were alone, Raden turned to her with a smile so plastic it could have been named Tupperware. “What can I do for you?”
    “Cut the shit,” she snapped, and like that, his smile bled out. “I know what you are.”
    He stared into the woods. “She told you?”
    “No. She kept her fucking promise. How long have you known?”
    He shrugged, clearly troubled. “Since that first day. I scented her when she opened the door to let me in your cabin.”
    He’d known this was coming the whole time. Shit, and so did Seleka.
    “Do you intend to claim her?”
    Raden blew out a breath, considering her question. “I doubt she’ll have me,” he smirked. “Doubt she’ll want to mate the man who killed her sister.”
    Avan narrowed her gaze. Cocky son-of-a-bitch. But she didn’t miss the sadness in his eyes.
    “So rescind your challenge. Join our pack. Woo my sister. Live happily fucking ever after.”
    With those stacked muscles and his handsome face, he was built to win females like Seleka.
    His expression turned to flint. “I can’t.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest as if that would put an end to the conversation.
    Avan chuckled. “Oh, is it your pride? Look, I get it. I just thought maybe your mate meant more to you than that.”
    His jaw cracked from the pressure of him clenching it. “How will she ever want me if it looks like I punked out of a challenge? I’ll be the laughing stock of this camp, not to mention my family. No female wants a joke for a mate.”
    “I know my sister and she’d be much more impressed with you if both of us came out of this still standing. You’d at least have a chance then.”
    Raden cocked his head, staring at her. “Are you… are you afraid, alpha? Is that what this is? You learned about my mate and now you think I’ll be harder to beat?”
    “You stubborn idiot,” she snapped, stepping closer so he could read her lips if need be. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m trying to spare my sister the lifetime of heartache she’ll have to face when I kill you. Do not mistake my intentions, wolf.”
    “It sounds like we both lose either way,” he ground out. “It’s just a matter of who ends up dead.”
    Now was the time to spring her idea on him. It was a fucking crap shoot but if he went for it… this could end, someday, in a mostly happily ever after.
    “There’s another way.” She tried the words out, and they burned in her throat. This was cheating. If anyone ever found out, she’d be dead meat. They’d never trust her to lead.
    “I told you, I can’t rescind—“
    “I’m not talking about that.”
    He clenched his fists. “What then?”
    Avan’s eyes did a sweep to make sure no one was near. “We throw the fight.”
    His back went ramrod straight. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. How the hell do we do that?”
    The details. The winning or losing was all in the details. “We battle it out. Hard. I take hits, you take hits. Beat each other to shit. Make it look like neither one of us will win. Then, when it looks like we’ll have to call for a round two, I start kicking your ass. I mean, really make it look brutal—hell, I guess it would actually have to be brutal for people to believe it. Call it a sacrifice on your part.”
    “Right. That seems fair.”
    “Just wait, mine’s coming.”
    He shook his head, disgusted. Whatever, if